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| North Korea withdraws from nuclear arms treaty, wa |
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| Moe_D |
| 01/10/03 at 12:32:25 |
| North Korea withdraws from nuclear arms treaty, warns of 'Third World War’ at 11:26 on January 10, 2003, EST. SEOUL (CP) - North Korea, warning of a "Third World War" withdrew from the global treaty that bars it from making nuclear weapons but said Friday it was willing to talk to Washington to end the escalating crisis. The United States said it was not surprised by the North Korean move. Washington said North Korea already was violating the 1968 Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty by secretly pursuing weapons development and flouting UN safeguards. Washington believes the North already has one or two nuclear bombs. "The North Koreans were not adhering to the treaty when they were still a party to it," said John Bolton, U.S. undersecretary of state for arms control, who was visiting Thailand. South Korea called the nuclear standoff a matter of "life and death," while China, the North's closest ally, urged negotiations. Only four other countries - Cuba, India, Israel and Pakistan - are not signatories, though Cuba is a member of a treaty establishing a nuclear-free zone in Latin America. North Korea said it was quitting the treaty because of U.S. aggression, but said it had no intention of producing nuclear weapons and would use its nuclear program only for peaceful purposes "at this stage." The North's declaration heightened tension as the United States and its allies seek a diplomatic solution. Pyongyang's action could mean the North is trying to force the United States to make concessions, including a non-aggression treaty and economic aid. The Bush administration says North Korea must completely dismantle its nuclear weapons program before it will negotiate on these issues. "The only message . . . America's position, is that we are ready to talk (but) . . .that we will not negotiate," presidential spokesman Ari Fleischer said. Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, a former UN ambassador, was expected to push that message during a second day of discussions Friday in Santa Fe with two North Korean UN diplomats. They met for two hours over dinner on Thursday. "The talks were cordial but candid," said Richardson's spokesman, Billy Sparks. Richardson visited North Korea on two diplomatic missions while he was still a member of Congress during the 1990s. China said it worried about the consequences of its longtime ally's decision to jettison the treaty. In a statement carried by the official Xinhua news agency, the government said it wants to see a peaceful settlement of the dispute. "We are concerned about the DPRK's announcement to withdraw from the treaty, as well as consequences possibly caused by the withdrawal," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue was quoted as saying, referring to the North by the initials of its formal name. As it announced it would pull out of the treaty, a keystone to global nuclear non-proliferation, the North warned the United States not to take military action against it. Pyongyang said a "new Korean war will finally lead to the Third World War" and that the North could hold its own in a "fire-to-fire standoff." The comment was distributed by the official North Korean news agency in English. The treaty, which the North joined in 1985, requires a withdrawing country to give three months notice. North Korea, however, said it was withdrawing as of Saturday. Germany, Australia, Japan, the Philippines and Russia were among countries that expressed deep concern. Britain called the North Korean move "a wrong decision." South Korean President Kim Dae-jung said dialogue was the only way to solve the nuclear crisis, which he called a matter of "life and death." His National Security Council held an emergency meeting. Afterward, the Foreign Ministry said the North's withdrawal was a "serious threat to peace and stability on the Korean peninsula." The nuclear tension could be discussed at cabinet-level talks between the two Koreas that are scheduled for Jan. 21-24 in Seoul. However, North Korea says the issue is strictly a matter between it and the United States. "We can no longer remain bound to the NPT, allowing the country's security and the dignity of our nation to be infringed upon," North Korea said in its announcement. "Though we pull out of the NPT, we have no intention of producing nuclear weapons and our nuclear activities at this stage will be confined only to peaceful purposes such as the production of electricity," the news agency said. However, analysts say a nuclear reactor in the North Korean town of Yongbyon - the focus of the latest dispute - provides a negligible amount of power. The facility was the centrepiece of a weapons program until it was frozen in a 1994 energy deal with the United States. U.S. officials said that North Korean negotiators acknowledged in October that they had a second, clandestine nuclear program. In 1993, North Korea also announced that it was withdrawing from the treaty, but suspended the decision three months later and entered talks with the United States that resulted in an agreement the following year. This time it again left open the possibility of a negotiated solution. "If the U.S. drops its hostile policy to stifle the DPRK and stops its nuclear threat to it, the DPRK may prove through a separate verification between the DPRK and the U.S. that it does not make any nuclear weapons," the North Korean government statement said. DPRK stands for Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the communist state's official name. North Korea joined the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty in 1985. In 1994, North Korea agreed, among other things, to freeze its nuclear facilities at Yongbyon under an energy deal with the United States that included a number of commitments on both sides. Recently, each side has accused the other of non-compliance. Pyongyang has also become increasingly concerned about U.S. intentions since the election of the hardline Bush administration, which has described North Korea, along with Iraq and Iran, as part of an "axis of evil." Washington claims the right to attack such "rogue states" as a matter of its own self-defence. The Bush administration is preparing for war against Iraq, but recently has tried to assure Pyongyang that it doesn not plan to attack North Korea. |
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